[ This is just recap for a lot of us. This post is more for 'newbies' to the forum. ]
So far, Tesla has been a company dedicated to 100% BEVs ("Battery Electric Vehicles").
Recently, much of the world has embraced HEVs ("Hybrid gas/Electric Vehicles") such as the Toyota Prius.
Along with Tesla's BEV push, some other companies have been trying to ramp up PHEVs ("Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles")
All of these vehicles have batteries and an electric motor.
One way in which they all differ is battery capacity and all electric range.
A typical HEV might have a 2 kWh battery pack and could go a couple of miles on full electric, so it would be rather dependent on the gas engine. Also they tend to have low output electric motors, so highway driving requires the gas engine to be on most of the time.
A typical PHEV might have a 15kWh battery pack and could go approx 20 miles on all electric. This would be enough for many people's commutes, and if you can plug in at work, you get many of the benefits of a BEV, but with the freedom to drive beyond your electric only range at will.
To have a useful range, a full BEV typically needs 30+kWh of battery capacity.
Tesla has shown hints that it may be thinking of branching out from BEVs to PHEVs. One big reason why this does make sense is battery price. When Tesla first started up there was a sense that major battery (and/or ultracapacitor) breakthroughs were just around the corner, but we have yet to see those turn into real production ready opportunities. If we throw out a (very) ballpark number of $500/kWh for today's batteries you see that a typical HEVs (like the Prius) only has an incremental additional expense to include their limited pack (but they get the nice benefits of regen braking, and gas engine shutdown at stoplights).
A PHEV could add $8000+ in batteries, which would be a hard sell for a mainstream economy car, but could be absorbed in a $50K luxury sedan.
Full highway capable BEVs still need $16000+ in batteries to have a useful range. That is a lot of cost to tack on to get a vehicle and still make it competitive to sell at a profit.
This forums is meant to be all about BEVs. They are the most elegant solution. But cost is a big hurdle, and all the BEV companies are going to struggle with this fact until we get more battery breakthroughs. I have been very against Tesla going the PHEV path, but if it is the only way to stay in business long enough to be ready when the battery prices come down enuogh then so be it.
So far, Tesla has been a company dedicated to 100% BEVs ("Battery Electric Vehicles").
Recently, much of the world has embraced HEVs ("Hybrid gas/Electric Vehicles") such as the Toyota Prius.
Along with Tesla's BEV push, some other companies have been trying to ramp up PHEVs ("Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles")
All of these vehicles have batteries and an electric motor.
One way in which they all differ is battery capacity and all electric range.
A typical HEV might have a 2 kWh battery pack and could go a couple of miles on full electric, so it would be rather dependent on the gas engine. Also they tend to have low output electric motors, so highway driving requires the gas engine to be on most of the time.
A typical PHEV might have a 15kWh battery pack and could go approx 20 miles on all electric. This would be enough for many people's commutes, and if you can plug in at work, you get many of the benefits of a BEV, but with the freedom to drive beyond your electric only range at will.
To have a useful range, a full BEV typically needs 30+kWh of battery capacity.
Tesla has shown hints that it may be thinking of branching out from BEVs to PHEVs. One big reason why this does make sense is battery price. When Tesla first started up there was a sense that major battery (and/or ultracapacitor) breakthroughs were just around the corner, but we have yet to see those turn into real production ready opportunities. If we throw out a (very) ballpark number of $500/kWh for today's batteries you see that a typical HEVs (like the Prius) only has an incremental additional expense to include their limited pack (but they get the nice benefits of regen braking, and gas engine shutdown at stoplights).
A PHEV could add $8000+ in batteries, which would be a hard sell for a mainstream economy car, but could be absorbed in a $50K luxury sedan.
Full highway capable BEVs still need $16000+ in batteries to have a useful range. That is a lot of cost to tack on to get a vehicle and still make it competitive to sell at a profit.
This forums is meant to be all about BEVs. They are the most elegant solution. But cost is a big hurdle, and all the BEV companies are going to struggle with this fact until we get more battery breakthroughs. I have been very against Tesla going the PHEV path, but if it is the only way to stay in business long enough to be ready when the battery prices come down enuogh then so be it.
